Richmond II: Jeff Gordon - Friday media visit

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA SS, met with members of the media at
Richmond International Raceway and discussed his position going into the
Chase, the Jeff Gordon Foundation, the role double-file restarts will
play in the Chase and much ...

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 DUPONT IMPALA SS, met with members of the media at
Richmond International Raceway and discussed his position going into the
Chase, the Jeff Gordon Foundation, the role double-file restarts will
play in the Chase and much more.

TALK ABOUT THE PRACTICE SESSION. "We had a good practice.
It's nice to come back to a track with the same tire and have some
notes to work on from earlier in the year. The track temperature was up
pretty good but we did our normal deal, we practiced during the day for a
night race and the same for qualifying so you've got to take what
you can from it but you've got to be careful to not get too
detailed on it. I feel like we made some gains for the race and we
qualified second the last time we were here. I'd be happy with
another top-five and hopefully we get a little more out of it. We drew a
late number so I'm real happy with how the day has gone so
far."

DO YOU LIKE THE POSITION YOU ARE IN GOING INTO THE CHASE?
"Definitely. I would like to have a few more wins but we've
had a great year. We've been solid. We're a great team and I
think we definitely have a shot at the championship."

IT SEEMS LIKE YOU ARE GETTING LOOKED OVER BY PEOPLE AND THERE YOU ARE
SECOND IN POINTS. "That's why I like the position I'm
in. Other than the bonus points I think I'd rather be under the
radar a little bit going into the Chase."

WHY? "Just so to focus and the expectations aren't there from
outside. There's enough pressure from inside your team and on your
own shoulders that you don't want anything adding to that.
I'm just happy going into it. I've been on both sides of it.
As close and as tight and competitive as this series is right now with
these cars, I'd prefer to have that. If we had the dominate car
that was just going to go wax everybody then I'm fine having the
bulls-eye on my back, but that's not the case these days."

COULD THERE BE A BETTER TRACK THAN THIS ONE TO HAVE A RACE OF THIS
MAGNITUDE? "No, probably not. This is definitely an exciting race.
When you have multiple grooves and the tight racing on a short track like
you have here at Richmond and all the story lines I think this is about
as good of a showplace as you can get."

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE MORE PATIENT IN THE CHASE NOW, SOME OF YOUR FANS
SAID YOU ARE SORT OF LAID BACK? "I think maybe about the pressure
but I approach every race whether it's inside the Chase or outside
the Chase the same and that's to win. We go into every race trying
to win, putting our best effort forward and that's the way
it's always been for us. It doesn't always turn out that way
but that's the goal. That's the goal this weekend and it will
be the goal next weekend. As far as I'm concerned this is an
11-race Chase, it's not 10. Last
week it was a 12-race Chase. Your goal is to run as hard and get the best
finish you can every single weekend."

ARE YOU A BELIEVER THAT THINGS WILL KIND OF EVEN OUT THAT MAYBE
YOU'RE STILL OWED FROM A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WHEN YOU HAD A
DOMINATE LEAD GOING INTO THE CHASE? "I don't think
you're owed anything but I think life has it ways of balancing
things out. I think we've had some incredible year. We've had
some down years. Does that mean in '07 when we lost it that
that's going to balance itself in a way somewhere down the road? I
don't know but I know when you work hard and you've got a
good team and you put yourself in position you execute it right you get
the results. I feel like in '07 we did everything right and those
guys beat us. Sometimes you just get beat."

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE MONEY YOU'VE RAISED THROUGH YOUR JEFF GORDON
WIDE-OPEN ICE CREAM WISH WANDS? "I'm really proud of our
relationship with Schwann's and appreciate what they're
doing. My weakness has always been ice cream. You can get me with a
nutritionist and a trainer and everything else but I'm still going
to have my ice cream from time to time and mint chocolate chip has always
been one of my favorites. It's cool that they came to me and asked
me to get involved with it and that they want to help the Jeff Gordon
Foundation and help children. To me it's a win, win for everybody.
There's a special Jeff Gordon tin and I've autographed a
bunch of them too so there's an opportunity to get an autograph and
a dollar from each one of those is going to go toward the Jeff Gordon
Foundation."

HOW DID YOU PICK OUT THE PARTICULAR FLAVOR? "I think they gave me
about 10 different samples the first time then we narrowed it down to
about five or six after that. I kind of gave them a little bit of what I
liked and they threw out some things that were happening in the ice cream
industry. I think we narrowed it down to a really good choice. I love the
combination."

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE GREEN INITIATIVES GOING ON IN NASCAR RIGHT
NOW? "You know you've got Waste Management that does a lot
here and the recycling of oil. I think that we're always trying to
be greener. This is not sport that's known for being green when you
look at our carbon footprint but it's all about the effort of
making a difference, making it better as you move forward. I think there
is more that all of us can continue to do whether at home in our personal
lives or here at the race track.

"Our focus, energy and marketing is not there and it needs to be
more there. I think that other than us driving hybrids and things like
that the manufacturers have produced, I think there is a lot more we can
be doing and I think the fans would appreciate that. I think you're
seeing everyone including NASCAR fans that are trying to do more to
conserve energy out there. We need to make probably a bigger presence in
the world and in motorsports at what we're doing."

DENNY HAMLIN TOLD ME THIS WEEK WHEN YOU DON'T MAKE THE CHASE YOU
FEEL LIKE A SECOND-CLASS CITIZEN, WHEN YOU MISSED IT HOW DID YOU FEEL
COMING TO THE RACE TRACK? "No doubt about the focus is on those
that are in the Chase. You're really just focused on next year.
You're just trying to salvage what you can. The only way
you're not going to be a second-class citizen is to go win the
race. That's it. It's how you approach it but there's
no doubt that the media attention, the fan attention and everything is
focused on those that are in the Chase. I think that is the way it should
be. Really that's what makes the Chase more exciting. It's
what makes it more prestigious to make it into the Chase and I think
that's the only way you're going to have a playoff system for
us. I don't think it's any different than once the playoffs
start in any other sport other than those teams are there any more but
still nobody is focused on them."

DO YOU THINK DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS ARE GOING TO PLAY A BIG ROLE IN THE
CHASE? "Oh yeah. I think double-file restarts have changed this
sport for the good but it's definitely made it more challenging.
Those restarts, which lane you're in is crucial. It's making
guys thinking about coming off pit road maybe even giving up a spot on
pit road just so they can possibly be on the outside. I think
that's stretching but I'm just saying when you go to a track
and the inside lane or the outside lane is such a preferred lane and I
know that was the case for me last week in Atlanta when I was on the
outside one time I went from like 10th to second or third on one restart
and the outside lane was just huge especially for us. So I think that it
can definitely make a big difference. Not just the action and the
potential for bumping and crashes and cautions, it's just that you
can gain or lose a lot of spots."

WHAT TRACK DO YOU THINK THE DOUBLE-FILE RESTART WILL HAVE THE BIGGEST
IMPACT IN THE CHASE? "I think New Hampshire is really big. I
don't know. It's really hard to say until we get there
because a lot of times it's not always the line it's what
line does the leader choose because that's the line that moves so
you want to be in that line. If that's on the inside then
that's usually means that inside lane is going to move forward, if
it's the outside and he's in it then it's the outside
lane."

DO YOU THINK THE CARS THAT ARE NOT IN THE CHASE WILL PROBABLY TAKE MORE
CHANCES THAN THE CHASER'S WILL? "That's just to me one
of the added excitements of the Chase that we're racing against
guys that aren't in the Chase. They have every right to be out
there battling for those positions and wins because they are still
battling for something that is important to them, their sponsors, the
points in general. It could be top-35, it could be just trying to be in
13th, it could be a lot of things so they have every right to be out
there doing what they're doing but it gets a bit frustrating some
times when you just want to be racing the guys you are racing in the
Chase."

THE FACT THAT YOU ARE IN THE CHASE, DO YOU TAKE MORE RISKS OR DO YOU JUST
KIND OF TAKE IT EASY? "I think what you try to do is just execute
everything as flawless as you can and not make any mistakes. You've
got to know just like in any race when to push the envelope and take that
risk. You see that hole and you go for it and hope that it pays off.
It's no different in the Chase. The intensity is definitely higher
so you might take a few more risks because the intensity but it can also
cost you. You've got to make those decisions at the moment and you
just hope they're the right ones. Most importantly you've got
to get your car working really good throughout the weekend and try to
give your team the best information you possibly can. It's a total
team effort. The best team is going to win the championship. It's
not the best driver. It's not the best pit crew. It's not the
best crew chief. It's not the best car. It's the best overall
team and that includes all those aspects."

IS THE CHASE FUN FOR YOU ONCE YOU GET IN IT? "I think it's
exciting. I think it just pumps up the adrenaline to the next level and
that's cool. That's exciting. It just seems like while all
these races that we've been running in the last eight or 10
we've been pretty solid leading this thing for a while and we
didn't want to slip up but we just couldn't focus on getting
those bonus points. If you're running sixth or eighth on the last
lap or last run you're kind of like man this really doesn't
mean much to me. So that kind of stinks where right now once this thing
is getting ready to start every single position, everything matters so
much that's exciting to me. It's people that don't
expect you to win the Chase and are focused on you it's surprising
them and showing them that consistency is important and that you're
capable as a team to step up to that next level when it really
counts."

IN 2001 NASCAR IS TALKING ABOUT GOING TO FUEL-INJECTION, WILL THAT BE AS
BIG OF A HEADACHE? "Who's talking about that? I want to know
who is talking about that because I've been asking for fuel
injection for 10 years so that would be huge. I think that would be a
fantastic move. I think it's something that we've needed for
a very long time. There's not a production car out there without a
carburetor. There hasn't been for a long time and I think it would
be better for everybody. Now I say that and our engine guy is sitting
back up here in the truck and might be saying hey wait a minute
we're not ready for that yet. I think it's a smart move. One
of many smart moves that I think could be coming."

DO YOU THINK IT WILL CHANGE THE SPORT AT ALL? "Every new item takes
some time to transition into and there's going to be things you
didn't expect. But I think they've been around long enough
it's not like new technology it's been around long enough it
should go smoothly. Again you're talking to the wrong guy,
I'm not an engine guy. So the right people to ask that question
would be those guys."

KENNY WALLACE THIS WEEKEND IS MAKING HIS 800TH CAREER START IN NASCAR
DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL OLD? "Kind of. I've been racing with
Kenny for a long, long time. I might not have 800 starts but I
don't think I'm too far behind him. So yes,
definitely."